Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Pruning Ourselves By Renewing Our Mind

Let us kindly ask ourselves if there
is something we want to achieve in our life. Ask if we have dreams that we always
desire to come true. Let me tell you this, you might probably be one of the
biggest losers if you have none of these. A mentally-fit individual should
always have dreams and those who are forceful in putting them to life will
usually end up fulfilling the things they most desire. What do you think Steve
Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey and John Maxwell have in
common? Religious or non-religious people who are successful have appreciated
the value of the beauty of their dreams by taking too much courage to go for
change.

I would like to share with you some principles on how to go
for change in order to experience real joy and success. I would
like to share one of them in this article.

Be pruned

My wife and I have appreciated the beauty and joy we both find in gardening and studying the very nature of plants. As noticed, it is
not just enough to water them, or plant them in a good soil and expose them to
substantial amount of sunlight. Some plants require pruning to maximize their
growth and allow them to bear flowers or fruits.

If plants could talk, pruning might be a painful process for them. In the same way, it might be an irksome process for us to
cut off the things we used to do or might have used to. It might be
exasperating on our part to decide forming our character, or changing our
attitude. We might find it bumpy to put an end to a bad habit. We might even
fight for principles, values and beliefs we carry among ourselves the moment we became conscious of the things around us. Name it all and you will
find that it is not easy to take the plunge into change.

We need to change

We are raised in different environments. Our beliefs, our
characters, our attitudes, our values, our experiences, our doctrines, our
memories – both our internal and external environments have contributed in
forming all of these in us. Now, it is not a question why you behave the way
you do. Just think of the fact how your parents raised you up as a person.
Evaluate and think of your friends who might have affected your life's point of view. Think of those persons you come along with most of the time. Think
of those words you mostly utter. Think of the thoughts you have in your mind
most of the time. Then I tell you, that is who you are. Let us not be ashamed
of ourselves if at this point we find we are not what we think we are. The
purpose of this article is not to put us into embarrassment, but to give us a meaningful transformation of our entire being. As they say, change is the only constant
in this world. So why remain off from change?

How to go for change?

The Bible reminds us this, “Do not
conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s
will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).

It is not the will of God that we will remain to live in
greediness, putting so much value on our money or personal possessions than our
neighbors, or creating ways and means even if it would mean others’ own expense
just to make sure of our personal gain. In other words, God does not want us to
be selfish but to live a life with abounding love for our neighbors just as what He offers us.

It is not the will of God that we will remain in bad habits.
This is very general so consider those things you do that if somebody might
catch you doing them will leave a feeling of shame or guilt on your part and would
stand against your entire being. God simply wants us to become productive,
without guilt and be free from the feeling of being dirty.

It is not the will of God that we will remain in hatred and
live with an unforgiving heart. He wants us to experience the real peace, joy
and comfort. He wants us not to fight back or talk against or take advantage of
our neighbors. Instead, He instructed us to always evaluate ourselves from
impurities before we could clearly see the speck of sawdust in our brothers’
eyes.

It is not the will of God that we will live a life full of
pride. God wants us to remain humble at all times. Surely you do not want to
hear a person blowing his own horn especially if it is entirely out of context.
Then imagine yourself being too boastful, even if you are not showing it, but
having the thought or intention of it, a person doing this could still be
considered full of pride, becoming too self-confident and intending to extol
himself to everyone.

God does not want us to become lazy, in all aspects, but He
would want us to be full of His knowledge and wisdom, to become more productive.
On this process, He wants to renew our strength everyday.

To go for change is therefore to be one with God's will and never resist.

Conclusion

Are you not tired staying the same old person as you are
from the past? Are you not exhausted thinking of the fact that the things you
want in life remain only as dreams until now? This is my point why I asked from
the start if you have dreams because if you do not have one, then all my questioning
would be all non-sense from your own point of view. For those persons who
want to achieve something in their lives, they must accept the fact that they
need to go for change. Those who do not want to change are somehow losing hope,
down to the defeatist level of mentality.

We need to cut off everything that might lead us to lack of productiveness for this is the real essence of renewing our mind. To embrace
change would mean renewing of our mind, not conforming any longer to the
patterns of this world, which are evil that would only suppress us from
experiencing the real joy that truly comes from God. Today, God just simply wants us to think big and cut
off the seed of the defeatist level of mentality in us. You will only know you
are successful if you feel the real joy and wisdom that only truly come from
God, and not from money, prestige, power or authority.

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